Ballast spreader and compactor

ABSTRACT

AN APPARATUS FOR SPREADING AND COMPACTING BALLAST UNDER RAILWAY TRACKS WHICH UTILIZES A SLED STRUCTURE WITH BALLAST SPREADING MEANS WHICH IS ADVANCED BENEATH THE RAILS AND TIES. THE SLED IS FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY A PLURALITY OF VIBRATORY TAMPERES OR COMPACTORS WHICH COMPACT THE BALLAST BEFORE THE RAILS AND TIES ARE REPLACED ON THE BALLAST LAYER. THE NOVEL METHOD INCLUDES THE STEPS OF PREPARING A SUBGRADE OR SUB-BASE, LAYING THE TIES AND RAILS ON THE SUBGRADE, DEPOSITING BALLAST ALONG THE RAILS AND TIES FROM SUCH MEANS AS RAIL CARS, UTILIZING THE APPARATUS FOR THE PRESENT INVENTION TO RAISE THE RAILS AND TIES AND UNIFORMLY SPREAD THE BALLAST THEREUNDER WHILE COMPACTING THE SAME BEFORE THE RAILS AND TIES ARE REPLACED, TAMPING ADDITIONAL BALLAST BENEATH THE RAILS AND TIES TO BRING THE RAILWAY TO A PROPER ELEVATION ALIGNMENT AND CROSS LEVEL AND THEN DRESSING THE RAILS AND TIES WITH FINE BALLAST.

Nov. 23, 1971 Filed Aug. 6, 1970 J- G. FEARON ET AL BALLAST SPREADER AND GOMPACTOR 3 Shoots-Shoot 1 INVIZNTORS JOSEPH G. FEARON ALAN R. BLAIR ATTORNEYS Nov. 23, 1971 J. G. FEARON ErAL v3,621,,785

BALLAST SPREADER AND COMPACTOR 3 Sheets-$heet 2 Filed Aug. 6, 1970 FIGO 3 INVENTORS JOSEPH G. FEARON ALAN R. BLAIR ATTORNEYS Nov. 23, 1971 J. G. FEARON ETAL 3,621,785

BALLAST SPREADER AND COMPACTOR Filed Aug. 0, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IF I G I INVENTORS. JOSEPH G. FEARON ALAN R. BLAIR AT TORN E YS United States Patent 3,621,785 BALLAST SPREADER AND COMPACTOR Joseph G. Fearon and Alan R. Blair, Libby, Mont, as-

signors to Morrison-Knudsen Company, Inc, Boise,

Idaho Filed Aug. 6, 1e70, Ser. No. 61,726 Int. Cl. E01b 27/17, 27/18 US. Cl. 104-2 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for spreading and compacting ballast under railway tracks which utilizes a sled structure with ballast spreading means which is advanced beneath the rails and ties. The sled is followed immediately by a plurality of vibratory tampers or compactors which compact the ballast before the rails and ties are replaced on the ballast layer. The novel method includes the steps of preparing a subgrade or sub-base, laying the ties and rails on the subgrade, depositing ballast along the rails and ties from such means as rail cars, utilizing the apparatus of the present invention to raise the rails and ties and uniformly spread the ballast thereunder while compacting the same before the rails and ties are replaced, tamping additional ballast beneath the rails and ties to bring the railway to a proper elevation alignment and cross level and then dressing the rails and ties with fine ballast.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for uniformly spreading ballast material on a sub-base, which may be compacted sub-grade or existing sub-ballast, and compacting the ballast layer as it spread beneath an existing railway track. The invention utilizes a rail mounted device which is commonly used for plowing or sledding undertrack ballast after it has been uniformly spread by the sled. This operation is accomplished by one pass of the apparatus leaving only the operation of placing a final few inches of ballast beneath the ties and putting the final set in the track by tamping and leveling which is commonly known in the art.

In the building of new railways specifications commonly call for several inches of compacted ballast beneath the ties when they are given their final set for elevation, alignment and cross level. In the prior art, on a new road bed, this is commonly accomplished by conventionl methods such as dumping the ballast on the subgrade or sub-base by truck, leveling and spreading with a conventional vehicle mounted blade and compacting with conventional vehicle mounted compactors or tampers. After several passes with this type of equipment the sub-ballast is brought to a level condition and to a particular grade with surveying equipment much in the same manner that a highway roadbed is built. All these steps are taken before the rails and ties are laid in place and additional ballast dumped thereon. The final step is that of using a conventional tamper-leveler to tamp an additional amount of ballast under the ties from above to bring the rails and ties to the final set referring to its alignment, elevation and cross level. The tamper-leveler is generally only used to compact enough ballast beneath the ties in order to bring the track to its final set. An example of such a machine is that disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,486,461, issued Dec. 30, 1969.

When reconditioning existing track, the common practice is to utilize an apparatus which raises the track and ties as it advances therealong and performs such operations as ploughing old ballast out of the way, removing excess ballast from beneath the ties and replacing the track and ties on the undisturbed sub-ballast. Examples of such "ice known and commercially available devices are the Autotrack and the Autosled" manufactured by Mannix International, Inc., of Minneapolis, Minn. In some instances the sled which raises the track and ties as the apparatus moves forwardly may also be used to spread a layer of fresh ballast on the original sub-ballast. One such sled is disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 2,769,172, issued Oct. 30, 1956. In any event, the track and ties are replaced on the undisturbed sub-ballast or on a thin layer of uncompacted new ballast. The final set is given to the track as described above by means of a tamper-leveler such as the type previously discussed, which holds the track at the final set position and automatically tamps about the ties so that they are finally supported on a layer of compacted ballast.

Referring to the present invention a method is provided whereby an existing track is lifted, whether it be from a compacted new subgrade or from an existing subballast, a layer of new ballast is uniformly spread by a ballast sled and the layer of newly spread ballast is compacted before the rails and ties are replaced. In terms of advantage with regard to the building of new railways, the use of conventional truck spreading, blading, vehicle mounted compactors and instrument leveling are eliminated since all of the aforementioned steps may be accomplished by rail mounted apparatus. When reconditioning old railways, fresh ballast may be spread on existing compacted sub-ballast and the rails and ties again set down on fully compacted fresh sub-ballast. In either case, whether new or old railway is being laid, the final step of tamping and levelling to bring the rails to the final set can be done by conventional equipment.

The primary object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a novel method and apparatus for placing, spreading and compacting a layer of sub-ballast beneath an existing set of rails and ties by the use of rail mounted equipment which raises the ties and rails as it advances and replaces the track and rails on the fully compacted layer of ballast.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel apparatus for mounting tamping means to operate in conjunction with a ballast sled and disposed so as to compact the spread ballast prior to replacing of the rails and ties thereon.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following specification and claims and from the accompanying drawings wherein:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the rail mounted structure which carries the ballast sled and vibratory tampers;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ballast sled;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the vibratory tampers in the raised or the non-use position;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view showing the rail and ties resting on subgrade before the ballast is spread;

FIG. 7 is a somewhat schematic illustration of the position of the ballast sled and vibratory tampers during use;

FIG. 8 illustrates a section of finished track with a cross section showing the various layers of compacted ballast, sub-base and dressing material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the overall apparatus which includes generally an elongated frame structure 1 having front and rear bogies 2 and 3 respectively for supporting the opposite ends of the frame on the rails 4. The rails 4 have already been spiked to the ties 6 with the proper spacing and the rails and ties laid on a compacted subbase 7. Since the frame structure 1 is a commercially available and well known piece of equipment and since the details of the frame structure form no essential part of the present invention, the frame will only be described generally and only the particular parts of the frame which bear any relation to the present invention will be described in particular.

The frame 1 is provided with identical A-frames 8, the legs of which are pivoted to the framework and which may be raised and lowered, as will be later described with relation to FIG. 3, for the purpose of inserting a ballast sled indicated generally at 9 beneath the rails by pulling the sled laterally as illustrated in FIG. 3. The sled is shown in detail in FIG. 2 and will presently be described. Once the rails are raised as shown in FIG. 1, the sled is inserted beneath the ties and is attached to the fore end of the structure 1 by means of the Outriggers 11 on the forward end of the frame 1. The frame 1 also includes two sets of jacks, the front jacks 12 and the rear jacks 13, the details of which will be presently described. Mounted immediately to the rear of the sled 9 are identi cal right and left, pivotally mounted, vibratory tamper units 14. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the entire frame 1 and the apparatus connected thereto is advanced along the rails 4 by such means as pushing or pulling with a railroad engine.

Although the operation of the present invention will be described with particular respect to the construction of a new road bed, it will be understood, as previously described, that the apparatus and method are equally applicable to reconditioning existing railways.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the ballast sled is a generaly rectangular structure and comprises a flat sheet metal plate 16 having apertures 17 and a V-shaped rear edge 18. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the apertures 17 allow any ballast which works onto the top of the plate during operation to pass downwardly on the road bed. The plate 16 is supported by five I-beam runners which include the central runner 19, the identical outboard runners 21 and the extended central runners 22. The V-shaped edge 18 of the plate 16 is provided with pivotally mounted, independently controlled, wings 23 which may be adjusted for angle by such means as the screw jacks 24 for the purpose of controlling the spread thickness of the ballast layer as the sled moves forwardly beneath the track. In addition, the plate 16 is provided with the attachment brackets 26 on opposite corners of the forward edge which are engaged by the outriggers 11 on the forward end of the frame structure 1 as illustrated in FIG. 1. An additional attachment means .27 may also be used to couple the central portion of the sled to the frame 1 if desired. The structure just described is a conventional ballast sled structure and is similar to that shown by US. Pat. 2,769,172 previously mentioned. For the purpose of the present invention, the runners 22 are provided with additional I-beam structures 28 which overlie the runners 22 and extend rearwardly past the end of the plate 16 as illustrated in FIG. 2. The forward ends of the I-beam structures 28 have downwardly curved forward end portions 29 which serve to guide or ramp the ties upwardly as the sled advances. For this purpose, the I-beams 28 may be provided with additional runner plates 31 which serve as riding surfaces for the ties which move therealong. The purpose of the additional runners 28 is that of providing sufiicient elevation of the track above the road bed and spread ballast to allow the tampers 14 to operate beneath the raised rails and ties. The rear overhang of the runners 28 serves to hold the rails and ties at the raised elevation for a sufficient distance to permit operation of the tampers 14. The overall height to which the track and ties are raised provides ap- 4 proximately 28 to 30 inches of operating space beneath the ties and behind the sled which is normally sufiicient for operation of the tampers 14.

As previously mentioned, the elongated frame structure 1 is provided with a pair of front and rear hydraulic jacks 12 and 13 respectively located on laterally extending framework such as that shown at 32 in FIG. 3. The framework 32 and an identical framework for the rear jacks 13 (not shown) mount the jacks so that the piston rods of the rams engage the roadbed outboard of the rails 4 as also shown in FIG. 3. These jacks will be operated by hydraulic pressure means and controls mounted on the frame 1, the details of which form no part of the present invention and are within the skill of a mechanic in the art.

The frame structure 1 is provided with pivotally mounted hooks or rail graspers 33 which may be swung downwardly to engage the rails prior to actuation of the jacks 12 and 13. This relationship is shown most clearly in FIG. 3. When the frame structure 1 has been moved to the desired location, the rails and ties are initially raised by setting the hooks 33 at the front and rear locations and then actuating the jacks such as shown in FIG. 3. The rails and ties are initially raised a sufficient distance to allow the sled 9 to be inserted laterally therebeneath.

The A-frames 8, only one of which is illustrated in detail, are pivoted on either side of the frame structure 1 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 and are raised and lowered by means of the cable system 34 which may be controlled by any conventional winch system (not shown). An additional hauling cable 36 is passed about a suitable pulley 37 carried on the apex of the A-frame which also may be hauled in and paid out by conventional winch means mounted on the frame 1. The sled 9 is initially inserted beneath the rails and ties by lowering one of the A- frames 8 to the position shown in FIG. 3 by means of the cable system 34 and then running the hauling cable 36 beneath the track and attaching it to the side of the sled 9. The sled may then be pulled laterally beneath the track to the position shown in FIG. 3 by hauling in on the cable. Once the sled is in place, the A-frame 8 may again be moved to its out-of-use position shown in FIG. 1. During the positioning of the sled 9, the tamping units 14 are in the raised position shown in FIG. 5. Once the sled s in position, the jacks 112 and 13 may be released, allowing the rails and ties to come to rest on the sled. Since the sled is at this time in a position beneath the location of the A-frames 8, the frame structure and bogies 2 and 3 may be backed up, that is moved to the right as seen in FIG. 1 until the sled is in position beneath the Outriggers 11 which may then be used to connect the sled to the front end of the frame 1 as seen in FIG. 1. When this is accomplished, the tamper units 14 are ready to be swung into operating posi- Referring now especially to FIGS. 4 and 5, the forward portion of the frame 1 is provided with a reinforced mast 38 which is rigid with the frame and to which is pivoted the hydraulic rams 39 on either side. The piston rods of the rams are attached to horizontally pivoted, generally triangular frames 41. Although the details of the mounting frames 41 may be varied, in the present embodiment the frames comprise a hollow sleeve 42 to which the piston rods of the rams 39 are connected and two diverging triangular legs 43 which are pivoted on horizontal axes comprising pins or the like 44. As may be seen most clearly in FIG. 4, in the raised position of the mounting frames 41, the sleeves 42 are horizontal and in the lowered position the sleeves 42 are vertical and located outboard of the rails and ties. A post 46 is telescoped into the sleeve 42 and may be provided with a pin 47 to prevent its removal. The post 46 has welded or otherwise rigidly attached thereto a crossarm 48 to which a set of vibratory tampers 49 is pivotally connected by means of post 51. The post 51 is journal mounted by conventional bearing means, if desired, to the crossarm 48 so as to allow the unit to freely pivot with its pivotal movement being limited by the pin 52.

The vibratory compactor or tamper units 49 are commercially available units well known to the construction in dustry and the details of the compactors form no part of the present invention. One example of a suitable vibratory compactor unit is that known as the Jackson Multiple Vibratory Compactor manufactured by the Jackson Vibrators, Inc. of Ludington, Mich. When the sled unit 9 has been properly located and attached to the frame 1, the rams 39 may be actuated to pivot the frames 43 to the lowered position shown on the left hand side of FIG. 4 and the vibratory units 49 are then pivoted about their respective pivot posts 51 in a forward direction as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5 through an arc of 270 to the operating position shown in FIG. 4. The stop pins 52 may then be reinserted so as to hold the units from further pivoting as the entire machine moves forwardly. Thus it will be understood that, as the new layer of ballast 53 is spread beneath the rails and ties by means of the wings 23 of the sled 9, the layer is immediately compacted by the vibratory tamper 49. The particular units 49 illustrated each comprises a double row of three independently operable vibratory units making a total of twelve units. Following the tamping, the rails and ties are laid down on the compacted layer of ballast beneath the track. When utilizing the novel method according to the present invention for the construction of new railways, a conventional subgrade or sub-base indicated at 7 in FIG. 8 is formed by conventional means and construction methods. As before mentioned, the specifications for any particular installation will require a number of inches of compacted ballast beneath the ties once the track has been given its final set. In the present illustrative embodiment of the invention, and referring to FIG. 8, a total of six inches of compacted ballast beneath the tie is illustrated. With use of the present method the first four inches or the layer indicated at 53 in FIG. 8 is actually deposited, leveled and compacted after the rails and ties have been laid in place. According to the present method, once the sub-base is in condition the ties 6 and rail 4 are laid directly on top of the sub-base and the ballast for layer 53 is spread along and between the rails by rail cars in the proper amount. After the ballast has been deposited the device illustrated in FIG. 1 is set up as previously described and advanced along the rails. As explained, the rails and ties are actually lifted, the ballast uniformly spread to the proper thickness and the tamper units 14 compact the ballast layer 53 before the rails and ties are set down on top of the layer 53. The prior art method of accomplishing this part of the procedure entailed the use of hauling, spreading, usually by means of conveutional road vehicles and by manual means at great expense. The present method, however, allows full use of rail mounted equipment since the rails and ties are laid prior to dumping the ballast.

Once the ties 6 are setting on the compacted four inch layers 53, a second pass is made to deposit the ballast necessary for the two inch compacted layer 56 illustrated in FIG. 8. This layer is initially deposited between and about the ties '6 from a hopper car or the like and then a conventional rail mounted tamper-leveler may be moved along the rails 4 and serves to raise the rails 4 to the proper elevation, aligns the rails and adjusts for cross level. At the same time the ballast between the ties is tamped by automatic tampers down under the ties to produce the final compacted ballast layer 56. The track is then ready for final dressing material represented by the layer 57 in FIG. 8. In addition to the tremendous economic savings obtained by utilizing the present apparatus and method of track construction, it has also been experienced that the final set in the track is more accurately obtained by distributing and compacting the initial layer 53 after the track and ties have been put in place. This is the case since the compacted layer has not been disturbed by the 6 passage of equipment or any other activity before the ties are replaced, as would be the case if the rails and ties were laid after the compacted layer were formed and used as a roadbed.

Although the above apparatus and method has been described primrily in connection with the building of new track, it is apparent that the identical advantages would be obtainable in the reconditioning of old track since it makes possible a compacted layer of new sub-ballast from which to work and obtain a final set in the track.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the present invention provides many new and unobvious results and advantages in terms of savings in time and expense in construction or reconditioning of railways as well as providing improved results in terms of the quality of the finished construction.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In combination, mobile means for progressively lifting a span of the rails and ties of an existing railway track as it moves forwardly therealong, the rails and ties being allowed to return to a position of support on the existing grade after passage of the mobile means, said mobile means having ballast spreading means carried thereby for spreading a uniform layer of previously deposited ballast beneath the lifted span as the mobile means moves forwardly, vibratory ballast compactor units carried by said mobile means for tamping and compacting the layer of spread ballast beneath the raised span prior to depositing of the span on the surface of the compacted layer of ballast, and means mounting said compactor units for swinging about vertical axes outboard of the ties whereby said units may be moved between a non-working position outboard of the ties and a transversely extending working position beneath the ties, said compactor units being of sufficient length, such that, when moved to the working position, the entire width of the spread ballast layer beneath the ties is spanned and compacted.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein; said mobile means rides on the rails of said track.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein; said mobile means comprises an elongated frame, and rail engaging support means carried by said mobile means for mounting the frame on said railway track for movement therealong.

4. An apparatus for spreading and compacting previously deposited crushed rock ballast beneath an existing railway track comprising:

a frame structure adapted to move along said track,

a ballast sled located beneath the rails and ties of the track and connected to said frame structure to be moved thereby,

said ballast sled including track lifting members to raise the rails and ties to an elevated position above the track bed as the sled moves forward,

ballast spreading means carried by said sled to uniformly spread a layer of ballast,

support frame means mounted for swinging on horizontal pivotal axes on opposite sides of said frame structure and extending transversely of the path of travel with the outer ends thereof located outboard of said ties when in a lowered position,

power means for moving said support frames between said lowered position and a raised non-working position, and

vibratory ballast compactor units mounted on the outer end portions of the support frame means for swinging movement about vertical axes when the frames are in the lowered position for tamping and compacting the spread layer of ballast prior to placement of the track on the compacted layer of ballast,

said compactor units being swingable between a position outboard of the ties and a working position extending beneath the track and transversely thereto, said compactor units being of suflicient lengh such that,

when both are moved to the working position, the entire width of the spread ballast layer beneath the ties is spanned and compacted.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 748,503 12/1903 Holbrook 1047 785,252 3/1905 Cravens 1047 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner 5 R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

